Being Available and Reachable: New Media and Cameroonian Transnational Sociality

Chapter VIII: New Media and Material Expression of Transnational Social Ties

199 Chapter VIII New Media and Material Expression of Transnational Social Ties Introduction The material dimension of Cameroonian mediated transnational social relationships expressed in the form of remittances is not an ignorable topic considering the centrality of these remittances in binding, neutralising or distancing ties. I pay particular attention on the financial aspect of remittances, although it is a limited or narrow focus on remittances at large. The focus is however representative of participants’ opinions that the supports are mainly in terms of money (see also Fleischer 2006:21). People’s accounts, especially those of migrants tended to reiterate an opinion by one participant that “Everything revolves around money. Sending money to do different things—medical bills, education, death celebration, you name it.” In fact, remittances requests and obligations emerged as dominant themes of conversation between the participants and their friends or members of the family. This result corroborates with similar findings which state that remittances are a central topic of discussion between migrants and nonmigrants (see also Drotbohm 2010:62; Riak Akuei 2005:9-10; Horst 2006:155; Vertovec 2009:58). In this chapter, the focus on remittances in the relationships makes no claim that there has been a radical break from the past i.e. the claim that there were no remittances requests or obligations in the pre-new media age. Rather, it is more about the findings that the new media have provided avenues through which remittances requests and obligations are easily negotiated across borders. The various issues raised in this chapter follow field accounts and observations that remittances flow mainly from migrants to non-migrants.114 Their flow ideally demonstrates bushfaller’s loyalty to friends and family i.e. when these requests and obligations are honoured (Riccio 2005:99, Goldring 2004:820). 114 Gifts also flow from non-migrants to migrants. Migrants often receive as well as take gifts to friends and family abroad when they visit Cameroon (Nyamnjoh 2004:79. See also Drotbohm 2010:53). 200 A general opinion on remittances requests and obligations reveals them as the most divisive element in the transnational relationships; participants’ experiences suggest that instantaneous mediation of monetary requests and obligations has generated conflicts, divided friends and families both within and beyond Cameroon. It is therefore no mistake that the chapter builds on experiences of estrangement with expectations and unfulfilled prospects of remittances from migrants being at the core. The distancing facet of the new media surfaces when the migrants are unwilling or unable to utilise the ICTs to instantly coordinate remittances. Three main topics on the distancing effect of the new communication media are highlighted in this chapter: the theme of moral obligation to support and the ‘right’ to request reveals that while the migrants feel it is their obligation to support people in Cameroon, the non-migrants on the other hand believe that they are entitled to instantly demand remittances from bushfallers. The theme focusing on the consciousness of economic position unravels non-migrants’ self-image as proud people; although they covertly expect assistance, they might restrain from openly using the media to request support from migrants. Thirdly, there is the theme of non-migrants’ dissatisfaction arising from unfulfilled expectations of deploying the new media to acquire remittances. Figure 14: Migrant friends and family members might call their nonmigrant relations to send them specific gifts through visiting migrants as in 201 this case where a migrant collects gifts (smoked fish) destined to a nonmigrant ’s family member living in Denmark. Morality and Obligation: ‘Settling’ Non-migrants The imagery of migrants making (mainly financial) amends with friends and family in Cameroon was inspired by an encounter with one of my childhood friends in September 2009. She advised me to “settle” my friends (starting from her) and family as soon as possible before the money that I brought from Europe got used up. She was quite frank about this and drew on several examples of “careless” bushfallers to substantiate her point. She observed that many visiting migrants do not have enough money to share to friends and family at the end of their visit in Cameroon. They often return to the bush with a bad name (See Riak Akuei 2005:9-10; Horst 2006:155; Wilding 2006:136 for similar claims on bad name). Once settled, she reasoned, my friends and family will be fine and might not demand anything from me anymore. Even though I initially took...